Daddy's Little Helper
by ValaMalDoran-Jackson
Summary: Slice of life in the Jackson-MalDoran home


It was oh-two-thirty-seven by Daniel's watch. Vala had long since given up on him returning to their room on base, heaving a sigh of frustration when her attempts at first seducing, then pleading, and finally yelling hadn't pulled her mate from his intricate work on a translation.

The rest of the base was silent, airmen wandering about the corridors as they headed to and from their duty posts. Absorbed as he was in his work, Daniel didn't even notice. Didn't notice the scuffle of small feet as they approached his office door. Didn't notice anything, until a tiny hand gripped the brush he was using to clean the cracks from the old stone tablets.

"Peanut, why aren't you in bed where Mommy put you?" He asked, giving his three year old a stern look.

"What you do?" She asked in a shy whisper that melted his heart. Daniel debated with himself. She would be back in under two minutes if he just returned her to her bed with a warning. They would then spend the next forty-five minutes to an hour in the familiar ritual of restlessness as he tried to get her to fall back to sleep.

"Daddy's cleaning this tablet so he can read the words." He explained finally.

"Oh." The two were silent for several seconds as Peanut inspected the tablet closely.

"Want to help me out a bit before you go back to bed?" he asked when she began sucking her fingers. Vala hadn't put the thumb guard on before tucking Peanut in for the night.

Peanut's eyes brightened at her father's words and she nodded, smiling around the thumb in her mouth.

"Go get your thumb guard, and you can help me." he promised. Peanut scrambled off the chair and bolted from the office, Daniel smiling at her haste.

When she returned with the lime green device she hated, Daniel had to smile. Peanut had also brought one of his camouflage bandanas. He knew exactly what she wanted with it.

"You put on?" She asked with a shy look, handing him the thumb guard that prevented her from sucking her thumb and first two fingers, yet gave her the free movements she needed. Daniel obediently strapped it on, testing the tightness with a finger carefully.

"Too tight?" he asked, releasing her hand.

"No. You fix?" she handed him the bandana and turned around, waiting patiently as he tied it over her long dark hair. When he finished, he had to smile. Peanut looked as if she was preparing for a dig on an off world mission. "Okay, set of tools, and your own tablet. Remember, brush carefully. No hard brushing, very gentle. These are old, and need to be treated carefully." Daniel explained, guiding her small hand in the familiar brushstrokes. When he was sure she had the idea, he released her hand and reached for his own brush once more. After several minutes of silence between them, he looked over at her work. Her tiny mouth was tight with concentration as she teased the brush into a crack in much the same manner he used, blowing away the dust she brought to the surface. Silently picking up his camera, Daniel stepped back from the table and angled the camera to get the best shot of his little girl. Peanut, engrossed in her work, didn't catch the movements. When she saw the bright flash, however, her head snapped up.

"Not the work camera!" she cried indignantly, sliding off her stool and running to his side.

" 'rase it! Hurry! 'fore the memory keeps it!" she continued, eyes pooling with tears.

"Honey, what's the matter?" Daniel asked, gathering her into his arms.

" 'member? It's the work camera, only for your 'lologically digging, not for Peanut! You hafta' 'rase it, or Peanut will be there! Only for work, use Peanut's camera to take pictures of Peanut, not the work camera! Daddy, 'rase it!" She pleaded, trying to grab the camera from his hands.

"Pea, it's okay. You were helping, so it's okay for you to be on this camera." Her father replied, giving her a gentle squeeze.

"But Peanut's on there! You hafta' 'rase it! Only for work, 'member?" She whimpered.

"Why erase it? My new helper is there, I can't erase a picture of my newest lab assistant. I have to turn in photos of all my helpers so that we can see what a good job they do with helping me, so that they can get paid for working with me. You want to get paid for helping Daddy, right?" Daniel asked with a smile. "Pea gettin' money for helpin'?

"Yeah. You're being a big help to me, you get ten dollars for this work. You're my lab assistant now. You get to help out when you come down here. Plus, lab assistants get to drink coffee while they work." Daniel explained.

"Get coffee now?" Peanut sniffed, wiping her eyes.

"Yeah, we can get coffee now if you want. I was just about to get some, you can come with me." Daniel set the camera out of sight in a cabinet above his computer and placed his daughter on the floor. Leading her down the hallway, Daniel knew his life-partner would murder him if he gave their daughter coffee. In the mess hall, he smiled down at her. "Why not get a table, and I'll bring the coffee?" he offered.

Peanut's eye brightened and she scurried to a booth in the back. Daniel smiled at her babyish movements while pouring the coffee. Peanut's cup, he filled with only a half inch of decaf, covering the rest with milk. His own he liked straight up black.

When he joined his daughter, Peanut was wriggling with excitement. Her parents never allowed her to stay up late, or drink coffee. Vala was the ultimate mother, every childrearing book known to mankind was now on their shelves beside Daniel's historical tomes. Dr. Spock was frequently quoted by her.

"Okay, coffee for the new lab assistant, and, coffee for the daddy." Daniel placed Peanut's mug in front of her as he settled himself down across the table.

"I like helping you." Peanut said after a few moments of silence.

"Me too. Maybe you can come up to the lab and help me out once a week. You still need sleep, don't forget, but I think it would be okay for now. We'll ask Mommy when you get up tomorrow." Daniel smiled. Peanut's face turned worried.

"Maybe we just won't ask Mommy, she might say no." she suggested.

"Like a secret?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, a secret for me and you, not Mommy."

"No. Mommy and I don't have secrets from each other. If I can't tell Mommy something, I don't need to know it. I have to tell Mommy everything I know." He explained. Peanut chewed her small upper lip before taking another drink of her coffee.

"Why?" she asked finally.

"Why what? Use your big girl words." Daniel smiled.

Peanut thought over what she was trying to convey to him.

"Why do you and Mommy not have secrets?" she finally asked.

"Secrets can hurt sometimes. Things I don't tell your mommy might come out when I don't know they'll be coming out, and I don't want her to get upset. If I tell her right away that you were in the lab with me tonight, and that I gave you coffee, it might make her say that we shouldn't have been up this late, and that I should have made you go back to bed. Then it's all over with. She might yell at me, but that's okay. Sometimes I need to be yelled at. But, if I don't tell Mommy that we were up late, and that you were with me, and that you drank coffee, and someone else told her, she might think that I was trying to hide stuff from her. If I hide this from her, what else might I hide?"

"So, secrets are bad?" Peanut asked softly. Daniel nodded. It was best she learned young never to hide anything from her parents.

"Mommy will yell if she knows that we hid stuff?" Peanut asked. Daniel nodded once more.

"I have a boyfriend, and I threw up in school last week, I called CJ a name I'm not supposed to say, and I kicked Teal'c in the _mikta_ when we were sparring last week. Aunt Sam asked me to help clean up CJ and Ella's playroom, and I really tried to, but I knocked over a plant and Socks got covered in dirt and ran under her and Uncle Jack's bed. Ella had to pull him out by the tail, and he really didn't like that, specially when we had to give him a bath to get him clean. Uncle Jack says that cat's don't like water, and that's why he was fighting so bad. Mommy told me that I wasn't supposed to tell you this, but Johnny Depp's butt is hot. Oh, and she lets me listen to Pussycat Dolls when you're not in the car." Peanut announced in one breath. With a sigh of relief, she sat back in her chair.

"You were right. Secrets are hard to keep quiet." she agreed.

"What's his name?" Daniel asked.

"Who?"

"Your boyfriend, what's his name?"

"Oh. CJ. He said he would always be my friend, even though he's a boy. He's my boyfriend." Peanut explained.

"I thought I was your boyfriend." Daniel adopted a hurt look and tone as he looked at the three year old.

"You are. CJ's my other boyfriend."

Taken aback at her calm dismissal, Daniel tried again.

"Who do you love more?"

Peanut rolled her eyes, looking just like her mother. "Daddy. I love you more. You should know, CJ's just my friend that's a boy. I'm still your baby girl." She sighed theatrically. Again, just like Vala.

"That's good. Never hurts for the daddy to feel loved." Daniel teased. Peanut crawled up into his arms, clinging to him tightly. "Always love you, no worries." she smiled, her head on his shoulder. Daniel held her for several seconds until, to his surprise, her tiny body relaxed against his and a small wheeze indicated she was asleep.

"Pea?" He asked softly. When there was no answer, he smiled and eased to his feet and, wrapping an arm around her, he repositioned her to lay in his arms. Looking down at his miracle child's angelic face, Daniel headed for the door, and his quarters.

When he had carefully laid Peanut down in her toddler bed, noting that she had almost outgrown it, Daniel couldn't help but smile down at her. After so many years of trying, his little girl was finally a reality, a tangible reminder of the love he and Vala had shared.

"I hope it was decaf, or you're going to be the one getting up to play with her." Said woman hadn't moved from her sleeping position to utter the words. Daniel knew she had been awake for some time, listening for him to come back with their daughter. It also meant that Peanut had awakened her mother when she left their quarters, prompting Vala to follow the three year old and hear most of their conversation.

"Yeah, decaf. Carolyn said coffee stunts kids growth, I didn't want that for Pea. Mostly milk, no sugar. She'll sleep good tonight." Daniel replied, stretching out beside Vala on the bed. "Good night." he murmured.

"It is now." Vala yawned, rolling over to look at their daughter. Daniel pulled her up higher on the bed to continue watching.

"You know it's past oh-four-hundred." He remarked.

"She gets the wheeze from you." Vala poked him lightly in the stomach with a finger.

"And who taught her to pick pockets, huh? I found three of my tools and five brushes stashed in her socks when I was carrying her up here. Still think she might have my wallet somewhere, but, not going to figure it out tonight." Daniel smiled in the darkness.

"Men's room, behind the second stall toilet." Vala's smile was sleepy, but smug. "How you figure that?"

"Simple deductive reasoning, Watson. That's the stall we had our little rendezvous in this afternoon. I distinctly remember hearing it hit the floor, but at the time I didn't want to interrupt you. By the time I was able to process things coherently again, I had forgotten about it."

"Fruitcake." Daniel mumbled against her hair sleepily.

"And you love me for it." She smiled back, her own eyes drooping closed against his chest.


End file.
